D&D 5E Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide Neverwinter description mostly useless

[KahlessNestor]

My assumption was there are (or were) plans to introduce a larger sourcebook for Neverwinter. Even if there aren't, it just reinforces the complaint that the SCAG was more of a player's introduction rather than a GM setting guide.

Could just be related to the Adventure League focus of 5e, where important information is expected to be included with the adventure, and everything is useless fluff at a public session.

As someone who plays AL, 5e is definitely not AL focused. SCAG doesn't even cover the area where AL modules are set.

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[PMárk]

I agree that the SCAG is not a good GM resource. It's a quick tour around the Sword Coast, but it focuses on what the everyday man would know and see and the current politics, but it has very little actual adventure hooks, places to discover, rumors and deeper political machinations. In other words, it lacks GM content, I suspect, because that content is in the big adventure books as intended and they don't really want you to cook up your own Realms adventures instead of playing those.

 

[Jester David]

I was thinking along the lines of something more updated with the revised spellplague stuff.

Being published well into 4e, that book should have post-Spellplague content.
Unless you meant post-Sundering (the 4e > 5e transition). I think Neverwinter wasn't much affected by that. Should be mostly the same.

 

[gyor]

The SCAG is more for players than DMs. What we need is a proper campaign guide.

Exactly we need an FRCG, the setting is not usable properly like this. I mean you can do the adventurers, but don't go off the rails, you know what I mean?

 

[discosoc]

Being published well into 4e, that book should have post-Spellplague content.
Unless you meant post-Sundering (the 4e > 5e transition). I think Neverwinter wasn't much affected by that. Should be mostly the same.

Yeah, that's what I meant -- sorry. I just know there was some hints about major changes in the HotDQ campaign, with Lord Neverember working to rebuild the city. And with the lack of information in SCAG, I just figured they had something planned.

 

[pukunui]

Exactly we need an FRCG, the setting is not usable properly like this. I mean you can do the adventurers, but don't go off the rails, you know what I mean?

Well, you *can* use it however you like, it just involves more work on your part and a willingness to ignore "canon" when it conflicts with your own ideas ... which I think is what WotC is expecting most DMs to do.

Yeah, that's what I meant -- sorry. I just know there was some hints about major changes in the HotDQ campaign, with Lord Neverember working to rebuild the city. And with the lack of information in SCAG, I just figured they had something planned.

Given how 5e seems to have sought to revert the Realms almost to its 1e/2e state, I would say that the "modern" Neverwinter will look almost indistinguishable from the pre-Spellplague city, with the main exception being that Lord Neverember is in charge instead of a direct descendant of the royal line.

 

[BookBarbarian]

It's interesting to me. I see so much FR hate here and there, that I often forget that a lot of people do run their campaigns there, and not just because of the Official Adventures. They even want an FRCG so they can build their own adventures that are in line with the canon or at least the official timeline of events of the setting.

Kudos to you FR DMs & players.

 

[TerraDave]

No, but the complaints about it when it was first released certainly made it seem like it was ...

Consider it an experiment in delivering content that was intended primarily for players but that would be of interest to DMs as well. It does include a few spoiler-free adventure seeds.

I have a very long standing theory that most "player oriented" books are actually sold to DMs or potential/sometime DMs.

It can be rationalized by "maybe my players would use it" but its the DMs that tend to be most interested in various tweeks and turns of characters, rules, new spells and equipment, and so forth.

 

[pukunui]

I have a very long standing theory that most "player oriented" books are actually sold to DMs or potential/sometime DMs.

It can be rationalized by "maybe my players would use it" but its the DMs that tend to be most interested in various tweeks and turns of characters, rules, new spells and equipment, and so forth.

You may very well be right!

 

[Jester David]

Yeah, that's what I meant -- sorry. I just know there was some hints about major changes in the HotDQ campaign, with Lord Neverember working to rebuild the city. And with the lack of information in SCAG, I just figured they had something planned.

Nope. I don't believe the city has changed much in between the two products. SCAG's changes mostly had to do with rolling back changes between 3e and 4e, which was already being done with Neverwinter via the rebuilding. Plus, with the MMO game, WotC likely didn't want to change many assumptions of the city.